A Very Faberry Wedding
by Fabraygron
Summary: The sequel to 'A Very Faberry Christmas'... How do Faberry get to their wedding day? Is it all fairy cakes and rainbows? [Indefinite Hiatus]
1. The Morning After The Night Before

**Well hello there! I didn't expect to find the time to write this but here we are with the first chapter!  
>I know there was quite a lot of support for 'A Very Faberry Christmas' and its because of you that I'm writing the sequel!<br>I'm writing for the first time with a beta too, so due to our busy schedules updates may take their time, but we like waiting don't we?  
>I live with my beta, so I'll kick her ass if she's taking too long. ;)<strong>

**As for progression, I need YOUR suggestions.**  
><strong>What do you want to see happen?<strong>  
><strong>Is it all rainbows and fairy cakes? Angst? Drama? PM or Review and leave me feedback!<strong>  
><strong>I will say one thing... I can't write smut and I will profoundly apologise for that!<strong>  
><strong>Anyway, I shall leave you for now.<strong>  
><strong>I hope this is what you wanted!<strong>

**All the best,**  
><strong>Klaine2314. [I really want to change my PenName too! If I do, you'll be the first to know. ;)]<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>The Morning After The Night Before:<strong>

"My fiancée." The blonde mumbled as she wrapped an arm around the brunette's shoulder basking in the wintry sunlight that was starting to enter their bedroom slowly but visibly.

"I am going to love waking up and hearing that." The diva mumbled back, startling Quinn who was unaware that Rachel was awake.

"Sorry I didn't mean to wake you, baby."

"Nonsense. Any time we spend awake alone is time wasted." She said as she turned towards Quinn and lightly kissing her.

"Can we just lie here a bit longer? I'm too comfortable to try and move."

"I suppose so." The diva chuckled as she snuggled into Quinn. "Not for too long though, we have a lot to do today, which includes telling my Dads when they get here!" She squeaked enthusiastically.

"How do you think they'll take it?" Quinn asked knowing exactly how Hiram and Leroy would take it.

"I'm not sure; I think they'll notice my ring straight away and then demand why you didn't ask for their permission."

"I did ask their permission. They just didn't know when I was going to do it." She admitted.

"You are soooo sneaky." Rachel laughed as she cuddled closer to the blonde.

"I knew you'd want everything done properly, so I ensured I had their permission before I even decided on when I was proposing to you."

"So we'll just let them figure it out then." Rachel chuckled. "What about your parents?" She added hesitantly.

"Well, I haven't thought that far ahead. I have no idea where my father is anymore but Mom's still in Lima, I could send a card? It would get torn up and thrown away but at least she'd know. Either that or she hears on the grapevine because your Dads can't keep anything quiet! I wouldn't expect them to keep it quiet though, their little girl is getting married!" She smirked.

"I think you definitely need to let someone from your family know. You're getting married, Quinn."

"Really? I didn't know that. I thought you were getting married." Quinn mocked hoping to digress from the topic. "How about we handle your Dads first and then we can speak about my family when they've gone. I need the time to think about it and I don't want to snap and shut you out."

"I can respect that but let me know when you've decided how you want to approach it." Rachel concluded knowing that any further discussion could end disastrously.

"I still can't believe you proposed last night and I'm waking up in your arms not as your girlfriend but as your fiancée. I've never felt this good in my life." She added, twirling the ring on her ring finger slowly. It glistened in the wintry sunlight, all 18ct white gold diamond of it. As soon as Quinn laid eyes on it, she knew it was the one. It complimented Rachel's skin tone tremendously.

"Wait until we wake up together for the first time as wives." Quinn sighed smiling at the thought but also relieved that Rachel had changed topic.

"I wish we could start planning but it's probably a bit inappropriate to plan a wedding whilst my Dads are here and we're supposed to be entertaining them. Right now, I'm happy to just be lying here with my fiancée."

"There are some moments that I wish I could capture with words but I simply can't. This is one of them. I don't remember ever being so content."

"You always have the right thing to say, don't worry that you can't express this because I know one day you will."

"Rachel, are you mocking me?" The blonde laughed at the diva who was beginning to babble.

"No why?" She asked perplexed.

"Oh nothing, it just seemed like you were trying to speak more eloquently than you usually do, it was so Rachel like and not so Rachel like at the same time." Quinn explained.

"Now who's babbling?" Rachel chuckled.

"Well you tried to steal my words. That's not exactly fair!"

"All is fair in love and war baby." Rachel joked.

Quinn picked up Rachel's hand and twirled the ring on her finger. "This is not just a commitment to you Rachel, it's a symbol of my love and the promise I give to you that I will always love you. I will always be there for you, to protect you and to honour you."

"There's my wordsmith." Rachel blushed.

"I thank you for returning my words to me. I am lost without them. I am even more lost without you."

"Ok, you can stop now. Save it for the next novel." Rachel joked, her cheeks blushing.

"Don't blush baby, if you're blushing now imagine what you're going to be like when I read you the vows I've written for you."

"I'm going to struggle to hold it together aren't I?" She laughed.

"I'm probably going to struggle finding the perfect thing to say to you. I'm an author and words are expected to come easily to me but when I'm with you I find myself struggling. I can write for hours and hours when I'm alone with just my thoughts for company but when I try and work with you in the apartment I can't. You just...argh! I can't explain it." Quinn explained as she held Rachel in her arms. Once she'd finished, they both just laid there. A silence filled the room as they dozed off once again.

-#-

A ringing noise rang through the apartment causing Quinn's eyes to spring open. Carefully she removed Rachel's arms and gently hopped out of bed picking some clothes up off the floor as she went in search of the phone that had so rudely interrupted her from her sleep. She found it on the coffee table and groaned when she checked the ID.

"Morning Lindsay." She answered flatly.

"Good morning Quinn. How are we this morning?" Her editor, Lindsay, replied cheerfully.

"Well, I was sleeping because I had a pretty late night."

"Oh yes, it was the big Christmas party wasn't it? So sorry I couldn't make it but my brother, Zach, showed up in town and I couldn't really just leave him."

"No problem, last night and this morning have all kinda merged into one anyway. I can't remember what happened last night and what happened this morning. All I remember is Rachel saying 'yes', everything else is one giant blur."

"Woah, track back! Rachel said 'yes'? You proposed last night?" The editor exclaimed.

"I certainly did." Quinn replied nonchalantly.

"Screw the nonchalance Fabray! I know how happy you must be right now! Did she like the book?"

"I am happy, but not when I get woken up and you digress away from why you really called. So get to the point?" She joked. "Oh and she loved the book, when she finally opened it!" She added.

"Quinn Fabray, be nice!" Rachel called from the bedroom.

"Did you just get told off?" Lindsay mocked.

"How on earth did you hear that?" Quinn jibed.

"She's pretty loud." Lindsay replied.

"I hear everything." Rachel responded at the same time. Quinn smiled to herself and forced the laughter to the back of her throat as she knew the validity in both of the women's statements.

"Anyway I've totally forgotten what I wanted to talk to you about so go celebrate with your fiancée and I'll speak to you soon Quinn. Congratulations."

"Thanks Lindsay. I'm sure there'll be a novel on its way soon. I'm marrying my inspiration, surely I could write for the rest of my life."

"I probably intended on calling to discuss another novel with you but enjoy your holidays and I'll be in touch after the New Year. Bye Quinn" She stated.

"Bye Lindsay, all the best." Quinn replied.

Quinn hung up the phone and set it down on the coffee table. Slowly she made her way back to the bedroom where Rachel was beginning to get ready for her Dads' arrival.

"Aw you got up." Quinn whined.

"I did, it's almost lunchtime and we have nothing ready for Dad and Daddy's arrival. We've still got to get the guest bedroom set up, the lounge and kitchen tidied from last night and we need to go shopping for food since we're all out." The diva explained.

"What time do your Dads get in?"

"4."

"So we have five hours to get everything done?" Quinn asked raising her eyebrow.

"Get that thought out of your mind, we do actually have to get these jobs done." Rachel laughed as she continued to tidy the clothes up off their bedroom floor.

"Can I just add that you didn't say anything about after we've finished." Quinn muttered as she turned towards the bed to make it.

"That might be an incentive for you to help and get the job done quicker then."

"Oh trust me, it is." Quinn laughed and dove onto the bed.

"I thought you were going to help?"

"I am helping." Quinn stated.

"Do explain dear." Rachel replied.

"Well by lying here and keeping out of your way is certainly conducive to the situation as I'm not doing anything constructive however if I did try and help you'd only distract me by being so breathtakingly beautiful that I wouldn't be able to focus on what I was supposed to be doing. I decided that if I just laid here and watched you then we'd both benefit. You'd get all of your jobs done and I'd be completely out of the way just staring at you."

"How about you get off your skinny ass and go tidy the lounge? That way I won't be distracting you in here and you'd be doing something constructive?" The diva argued lightly, a small smile forming on her face as she instructed her fiancée.

"Being engaged isn't going to change the dynamic of this relationship is it?" Quinn joked.

"I don't know what you mean." Rachel chuckled.

"I'm still going to be super whipped, doing everything that you command."

"It's proved to be a winning tactic so far, let's keep it that way. Now hop to it." Rachel ordered clapping her hands together in an attempt to make the blonde move.

-#-

"Next major decision, do we want our adoring public to know?" Rachel asked as they drove to the airport.

"Well if we don't want them to know you're not doing a good job at hiding it. Your ring is on display." Quinn laughed as she pointed to the ring on the diva's hand.

"I take it you don't want people to know just yet then?"

"I want our family and friends to know first. The rest of the world can wait." The blonde admitted.

"There's a space." Rachel said pointing to an open space in the airport car park.

They bolted out of the car and Quinn immediately grabbed Rachel's left hand and covered the ring from the view of the paparazzi who were bound to show up.

"I like holding this hand even more now. I love the feel of metal." Quinn confessed.

"Me too, I can feel it there and it makes me feel protected."

"That's exactly how I want you to feel." Quinn said as she held the door open for her fiancée.

They stood in a corner away from the public as they waited for Hiram and Leroy to come through the revolving doors. They kept seeing fingers being pointed their way but people respected their privacy and remained away. Quinn was used to Rachel having such a huge fan base but was struggling to understand why people still wanted to have their photo taken with her. She wrote under a disguise, she was the wordsmith content with standing and blending into the background. Rachel was the showy one. "They should be here any minute." Rachel said trying to keep her eyes diverted from the fans that were starting to gather.

"RACHEL!" Leroy bellowed as he rushed through the revolving door.

"Daddy!" Rachel squealed as she rushed towards them, dropping Quinn's hand in the process. Hiram struggled to get out of the door with the two suitcases so Quinn rushed to his aid chuckling to herself.

"Hey Quinn." He said pulling her into a hug once they'd got through the door and their luggage put to one side. "It's good to see you! You've made Rachel's Hanukkah-Christmas by coming up here." She admitted.

"I highly doubt that...judging by the sparkling rock on her finger I think you've just made her Hanukkah-Christmas or perhaps her entire year."

"How did you notice that? You haven't even spoken to her yet!"

"I'm her father Quinn; I was bound to notice as soon as I saw her. She has a different glint in her eyes. A glimmer of happiness."

"I hope it's more than just a glimmer. I intend on making her happier than she's ever dreamed."

"I know." He replied honestly. "That's why I never hesitated in saying 'yes' when you asked for our permission."

"Let's go interrupt their beautiful moment and see how long it takes Leroy to notice."

"He'll notice shortly, once the glistening catches his eye. It's not too flashy though which I'm impressed with."

"I figured if we wanted to keep it low key for now then a big ring would easily give it away. This one is still very Rachel but can be easily hidden."

"Well thought through Quinn. You know she's going to want a bigger one when you get married, right?"

"Oh yeah, I'm saving up already!" She laughed.

"Good. Any idea of whe-" Hiram was cut off by a loud squealing as they approached the car.

"HIRAM HAVE YOU SEEN THIS?" His husband shouted.

"Seen what, honey?" Hiram replied playing along.

"This rock on our daughter's hand."

"What rock?"

"This one." He said grabbing Rachel's hand and thrusting it in his husband's face.

"Fancy explaining this one, Rachel?" Hiram said pretending to scold his daughter.

"It's self explanatory. Quinn proposed last night." She blushed wrapping an arm around her fiancée.

"Group hug?" Quinn suggested lightly.

"Group hug? How about family hug? Welcome to the madness Quinn!" Leroy joked.

"We're starting to draw attention to ourselves, let's get in the car and get back to ours." Rachel instructed. "Quinn, you can drive."

"Yes boss." Quinn chuckled getting into the car.

Rachel chatted animatedly with her fathers as Quinn drove them back to the house, completely oblivious to the conversation, lost in her own little world. Everytime Rachel's ring caught her eye she smiled. She smiled knowing the diva was happy and that one day they'd be married. They'd be married and would be their own family. A family they'd chosen, not one they were born into.

* * *

><p><strong>Fear not, I have started Chapter Two!<strong>  
><strong>R+R!<br>**


	2. Simple and Elegant

**Hello my lovely readers!  
>I've had this update done for a few days and you're getting it before its been BETA'd. Its going to happen every now and then because we are both pretty busy at the moment! Once my teaching practice finishes on Friday, hers begins the week later, so important chapters will probably be BETA'd and others won't!<strong>

**Anyway, thank you for your reviews!**  
><strong>From it I got a good idea of what you want!<strong>  
><strong>Lots of fluff - I can so do that!<strong>  
><strong>No angst - I can do that!<strong>  
><strong>Bits of drama - No problem! Rachel's such a dramatic character that we can have fluffy drama where she's concerned!<br>Scenarios you definitely want to see?  
><strong>

**Onto the chapter, I wrote this in a response to a review from 'AVFC'**  
><strong>R+R!<strong>

**All the best,**  
><strong>Klaine2314<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Simple and Elegant:<strong>

"What's the itinerary than Rachel?" Leroy joked as they were led into Quinn and Rachel's apartment.

"There isn't one." She replied plainly.

"What?" Leroy responded, their jaws had dropped, he was stunned. Hiram only smiled. He knew what tonight was.

"I haven't planned anything for you. This isn't your first time here." She smirked. "Quinn and I have to go out for a few hours, so unfortunately this evening you shall have to entertain yourselves."

"We do?" Quinn asked perplexed.

"Yes." The diva simply replied.

Quinn had no recollection of making any plans with Rachel. If she did, she'd have ensured they didn't clash with the timing of her fiancée's fathers' visit. "Can you remind me?"

"No, just go with it."

"This is all very spontaneous, Rachel."

"No it's not. I've had it planned for months. Enough chit chat, grab your coat and let's go." She commanded, clapping her hands to make the blonde spring to life just like she had earlier in the day.

"Good luck Rach." Hiram whispered as she bid them farewell.

"I don't need luck. Everything's sorted."

"I know, I just wanted to wish you something." He chuckled, a small tear forming in his eye.

"What on earth are you blubbering about? She's only going out for the evening, we're here for a few days, it's not like we're not going to see her again." Leroy scolded. Rachel turned to explain to her Daddy what was going on but Hiram just mumbled "Don't worry, I'll explain everything."

Rachel took Quinn's hand as they made their way onto the busy New York streets. "Not that I'm not excited but where are we going Rachel?"

"Have patience. You'll soon see!"

"I love how you're the one telling me to have patience, when you have the patience of a teaspoon."

"I resent that comment, you'll see why in a short while."

Rachel led Quinn through the streams of tourists and the bright lights of the city engulfed them. Rachel tried to make sure the blonde had no idea where she was going by taking a different route to the one she'd planned.

"Rachel we've passed this place already, why do I feel like we're going around in circles."

"We are but you were supposed to be confused by now."

"Trust me, I am confused. What's going on?"

"Two more blocks and we're there!"

Rachel suddenly stopped and took off the scarf that was wrapped around her neck. She dropped Quinn's hand and tied the scarf around her eyes.

"Woah. What on earth is going on?" Quinn exclaimed.

"You're not playing along. Now you'll have no clue where you are!" Rachel laughed. Blindly she led Quinn forward who was staggering along the pavement. She wasn't feeling comfortable being guided by Rachel.

"Are we nearly there?" Quinn gasped, desperate to remove the blindfold.

"We are." Rachel simply replied. She took the final steps forward and sat down leaving Quinn stood alone.

"Rachel? Rachel?" Quinn begged.

"You can take the blindfold off now." She said.

Hurriedly Quinn took the blindfold off and gasped when she realised where she was. "Rachel, why are we here?"

"I thought that would have been obvious." Rachel stated as she sat on the bench in front of her.

"Nothing you do is obvious." The blonde mocked taking a seat next to her fiancée.

"This is our spot. I wanted it to be perfect."

"Wanted what to be perfect?"

"This..." Rachel said before she got down on one knee before Quinn.

"You beat me to it baby, but I wasn't prepared to not do this. For the past year I've known nothing but love, it was the one thing I'd been missing for so long. I read your book and wished for someone to write such moving and beautiful things about me, when I learned the truth about you Quinn, everything changed. You were no longer Quinn Fabray, former head bitch of McKinley but you were Quinn Fabray, adult of such grace that I couldn't hold anything but fond memories of you. You told me that you'd become the person I always thought you would be and you were right. The Quinn Fabray that I love is caring, compassionate and considerate. She puts her soul into her work but her love goes so much further than her work. Every minute we spend apart seems to hurt, every minute we spend together is healing that it makes it worth the pain of being apart because I know it won't be long until I feel complete again.

I wanted to propose to you a while ago but then you told me you weren't ready so I waited. I waited for you to propose to me so I knew you were committed and that you were ready for this. I always dreamed of proposing to you exactly like this. This bench is where everything started for us Quinn. Sometimes I come here and just sit, I think about how different you've made my life and I dream of the ways we're going to continue changing each other's lives. The two of us getting married is only the start. Quinn you know I'll marry you, but I want to know will you marry me?" She asked as her eyes filled with tears. She'd fought them back so far but her love for Quinn was proving too much.

"Hmmmmmm...I suppose I'd better say 'yes' otherwise your Dads might be a bit pissed when we get back, huh?" She quipped trying to make her fiancée smile away the tears. "Of course I'll marry you." She added noticing that the diva wasn't smiling at her ill-timed joke.

"Time your jokes better next time." Rachel scolded wiping the tear from her eye.

"Sorry." Quinn blushed.

"You will be!" Rachel chuckled. She pulled out the ring from her coat and slipped it on the blonde's hand.

"Oh Rachel, this is beautiful. So simple and elegant."

"Exactly like you." Rachel confessed as she sat back next to her fiancée and kissed her lightly. The ring was a simple silver band, nothing flashy just a symbol of the love the two shared. "Oh! Take it off and look on the inside." Rachel commanded realising she'd forgotten an important part of the simplistic engagement band. Quinn did as she was instructed. Etched into the metal were the words '_Old foes, new friends, forever lovers.'_ Quinn turned and pulled the diva towards her in a tight hug, tears falling down her face. "I'm not hiding this." Quinn mumbled as they broke apart.

"What?"

"I'm not hiding the fact we're engaged. I'm too happy to keep it a secret. I want the world to know. Your Dads know and that was the main thing. I really don't care about my family. I know you want me too, but I've waited for four years to be in this position and I'd shout it from the rooftops that not only do I love you but that we're getting married. We're going to be a family of our own."

"Well, I'm glad you said that because I think I spotted a photographer across the street. I have no idea what headline they're going to create. Maybe _'Broadway's Berry Begs For Forgiveness.'_ What I'd be begging forgiveness for I don't know." She laughed. "Should we release a joint statement?"

"Let's do it. That's the first thing we can do in our wedding plans. Have you told Kurt yet?"

"Yeah, I texted him earlier. What about Santana? Does she know?"

"She knew I was proposing last night but I haven't told her your answer, but I think she'll have figured it out when I haven't turned up on her doorstep heartbroken at your rejection."

"You were almost turning up on her doorstep tonight if you'd kept that joke up any longer!"

"I was never going to say 'no' and you know that. How could I say 'no' anyway? I've already proposed to you." She said turning her tone into a hearty laugh. "Come on, let's get home. I can't handle this cold in my old age."

"Quinn, you're twenty four, how on earth are you old?"

"I'm not, but when we're married we're going to feel old."

"In that case, I can't wait to feel old." Rachel sighed with a smile on her face.

Slowly they held onto each other and walked home. "I see what you meant about loving the feel of the metal on your hand." Quinn admitted as she held onto Rachel tightly. "It definitely makes me feel more protected, which is strange, but a good strange."

"You thought I was being abnormal again, didn't you?"

"You abnormal? Never." She joked, earning a slight slap from her fiancée.

"Are you going to make fun of me everyday for the rest of our lives?" Rachel enquired.

"Hmmm, pretty much. You know I love you, so it's ok. I wouldn't say anything to hurt you."

"I know, I'm going to work on some verbal comebacks though, maybe I should check in with Santana." She quipped as she opened their apartment door.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Quinn laughed. "Come on...bed." She instructed still laughing at her fiancée.

"So you're going to boss me around AND make fun of me? Remind me why I'm marrying you again?" She joked as she hung their jackets up on the back of the door. Slowly she walked over to Quinn.

"I wrote a book about you." Quinn stated with a light smile as she her arms around Rachel's waist at the foot of their bed. "No, wait, I wrote two books about you. Sorry I always forget I've had two bestsellers." She laughed.

"You'd better write the third soon, our wedding's going to be expensive. You do know who you're marrying right?" Rachel joked leaning in to lightly kiss her.

"I'm getting married? Who to?" Quinn pondered, her eyebrow scrunched down playfully.

"Not this again, Quinn. Now get to bed!" Rachel giggled.

"See, I'm the joker and you are definitely the bossy one."

"I never normally hear you complain." Rachel winked before kissing her again but more passionately.

"If you kiss me like that everyday for the rest of our lives, I will never complain."

"You might not complain but we most certainly will if you don't keep the noise down!" A grumpy voice called from across the hall. Rachel and Quinn blushed furiously when they realised the voice belonged to Leroy.

"Congratulations by the way girls!" Hiram shouted. Faintly the two could hear Hiram and Leroy chuckling to each other knowing that they had just ruined the moment.


	3. We're Only Young Once

**Two updates in one day!  
>This is just incase it takes a while longer for chapter four!<strong>

**Enjoy!**  
><strong>All the best,<strong>  
><strong>Klaine2314<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>We're Only Young Once<strong>:

"How long are they here for again?" Quinn giggled as she got into bed, pulling the diva with her and putting an arm around her.

"Four days." Rachel sighed as she turned on her side to face Quinn.

"We can wait four more days, right?"

"Of course, we're not animals." Rachel replied with uncertainty in her voice. "Although we are engaged and wanting to celebrate, surely they are aware that we've already...you know..." Rachel blushed furiously.

"You are just too cute you know that Rachel Berry?" Quinn smiled lightly kissing her on the cheek that was burning dramatically.

"We just got cockblocked by my Dads. How are you not blushing too?"

"There's going to many times we get, as you put it, 'cockblocked' so we might as well get used to it. Either that or you learn to be quiet."

"Nope, that's never going to happen." Rachel assured her.

"Didn't think so, baby. Thinking about it, I wouldn't want you to be quiet though, not while we're young. We're only young once; we've got to enjoy it, right?"

"Exactly, plus I've always lived my life by the philosophy of if you're going to do something, you've got to give it all of your efforts otherwise success will be short lived."

"I'm glad that philosophy has been adopted by every aspect of your life..." Quinn remarked quickly.

"Moving on..." Rachel ordered. "When can we start thinking of planning? I mean proper plans not just releasing a statement."

"Well, we decided earlier it would be rude if we planned whilst your Dads were here, but now we have time together we can just bounce ideas off each other."

"By bounce ideas off each other, I want constructive ideas, Fabray." Rachel warned.

"Oh, first plan!" Quinn enthused dramatically. "What is our surname going to be? Quinn Berry just doesn't have the same ring to it as Quinn Fabray whereas Rachel Fabray sounds sophisticated and grown up." She suggested.

"Not that Rachel Berry isn't sophisticated or grown up. I'll change my name if it makes you happier." She quickly added.

"I like the idea of being Fabray if I'm honest, maybe I could keep Berry in my career though? Officially I could be Rachel Fabray."

"You don't want to have the best of both worlds and hyphenate it? Arguments of Berry-Fabray or Fabray-Berry would be imminent if we went down this route though!" Quinn advised.

"Berry-Fabray would be grammatically correct because of the alphabet, dear." Rachel mocked. "However no, officially I will be Rachel Fabray but professionally I shall remain Rachel Berry. Plan number one: complete." Rachel said mentally checking the list in her head.

"Wow that was easy. I'm proud you want to take my name, baby. What's next?" Quinn asked hoping everything would be as easy to sort.

"How about we outline a time when we want to get married?" Rachel suggested.

"Tomorrow?" Quinn proposed playfully earning her a light tap on the arm.

"I said serious! Do you want a summer or winter wedding?"

"Summer's closer." Quinn pointed out.

"So you want to get married sooner rather than later?

"Definitely, what about you?"

"Sooner works for me too."

"Any particular month?"

"I've always wanted a July wedding but that's only seven months away and we have a lot to do."

"July it is." Quinn stated purposefully.

"Please tell me that there are going to be decisions that take more thinking." Rachel chuckled. "At the moment we seem to be agreeing on everything, which is great, but I expect some disagreement."  
>"I'm here to make you happy, I'm not going to disagree and ruin what can only be described as the best day of your life."<p>

"Our lives, baby. It's your wedding day as much as mine."

"I know, but I know how much a big wedding means to you, if you want a seventy piece orchestra you shall get one. I've wanted to marry you for so long that it's inevitable I'm going to cave and just get you what you want."

"That's cute, but unnecessary, I want it to be a mix of our personalities. I want some of your ideas from your dream wedding and some of mine. I want to blend them so it's a wedding entirely unique but it complements us and the marriage we hope to maintain."

"I always wanted simple, the ceremony should be intimate with our closest friends and families but the reception should be lively but nothing too big. I want to be able to forget about the moment and only focus on you. I want you to be the only thing I have to think about during the day and trust me, Rachel; you will be the only thing I'm thinking about during the entire day and for the rest of my life."

"Quinn, that sounds perfect." Rachel sighed dreamily. "The ceremony is a true reflection of you whereas the reception is more me. If we can create that then our wedding day will be completely perfect."

"Baby, we could get married in our sweats and it'd still be perfect."

"This is true." Rachel yawned. Quinn lent over and kissed her fiancée.

"Goodnight Rach."

"Night Quinn." Rachel sleepily replied.

As Rachel slept, Quinn laid there listening to the rhythm of Rachel's breathing. In and out. In and out. In and out. It almost sounded musical. Quinn was content and if she couldn't sleep at all that evening she knew that she'd get up the next morning completely refreshed and energised because the sound of Rachel breathing was soothing. Listening to Rachel breath so rhythmically had inspired Quinn. She knew exactly what their engagement announcement should say. Slowly and quietly she reached over Rachel and grabbed the notebook and pen off the bedside table. She put on the bedside light and began to write. Ten minutes later and she was done. The minor details had been written for the world to know but the finer and more important details were for the knowledge of Quinn and Rachel and their closest friends and family only. She settled herself back down in bed and pulled Rachel tight to her, so that her head was pressed against Quinn's chest. '_Seven short months and she's all mine forever.'_ Quinn thought as her eyes slowly pulled shut.

-#-

"Any plans for the New Year?" Hiram asked over breakfast.

"I think we're going to Kurt's." Rachel replied. "Last year we went to London, but we've got to start saving for our wedding now, although I'd definitely like to go back there."

"How much have the two of you planned?" Leroy enquired.

"Last night was quite successful in discussing plans."

"May we know any of the details?" Hiram asked.

"Well officially I'm going to be Rachel Fabray but professionally I'm going to remain a Berry."

"That's good then you can have the best of both worlds that way. Did Quinn not want to take our name?" He asked.

"Well Quinn Berry doesn't have the same effect as Rachel Fabray, hyphenation wouldn't work either, mainly because we couldn't agree on an order even though alphabetically Berry comes before Fabray but we wanted to keep it simple." Rachel explained.

"Keep July free too." Quinn said as she entered the kitchen.

"Oh yes, maybe I should have told them that first." Rachel laughed. "We decided on having a summer wedding, we plan on marrying in July but we obviously don't have a date."

"You two have been busy, haven't you?" Leroy winked.

"We were planning something else but we were interrupted so we opted to begin planning our wedding instead." Quinn said as she laughed causing Rachel to blush.

"Next time I think we'll stay in a hotel." Leroy chuckled.

"You don't have to; just try not to cockblock us next time you visit." Quinn replied.

"Cockblock?" Leroy enquired.

"Your daughter's new favourite word but I quite like it."

"Rachel, what is cockblocking? Do explain it." Leroy asked, knowing how red his daughter was going to go when she tried to explain.

"Well...Hmmm...It's like..." She stammered.

"Its ok Rachel, we know exactly what it is." Hiram said sparing his daughter's blushes. "We'll avoid it in future, but do remember there are certain things that a father doesn't need to or want to hear."

"Can we move on from this already?" Rachel blushed as her face grew redder and redder by the minute.

"I'm rather enjoying making you blush, baby." Quinn giggled.

"Me too but her face looks like it might explode. Why don't you two go get ready and then we can go out for the day." Leroy suggested.

"That sounds like a great idea, come along Quinn. We can work on that statement while we get ready." Rachel replied, pulling Quinn up from her chair and out of the room in a flash.

-#-

"You are so dead." Rachel snarled as they entered their bedroom.

"Wait. What have I done?" Quinn replied as she dropped her eyebrows.

"This morning you just waltzed into the kitchen without as much as a 'good morning' to me and began your day by embarrassing me to high heaven with my fathers."

"I'm sorry baby."

"Sorry might not be good enough!" Rachel replied as she tried to keep her face straight. Quinn knew exactly what the diva was up to. She sidled up to Rachel who was sitting at the dressing table slowly brushing her hair. Quinn knelt beside her and wrapped her arms around the diva's waist pulling her into a sideways hug. Rachel's head immediately rested on Quinn's shoulder. "Morning baby." Quinn whispered as she turned her head and kissed the brunette's cheek.

"That's better. I hope you don't start getting into this little habit of not greeting me properly in the morning. I don't like it."

"Me either, but imagine my dismay when you weren't lying there when I awoke. So I thought we were even!"

"We are even...now." Rachel smiled. "Now this statement. How much do we want our adoring public to know?" Rachel asked as she set aside the hair brush and shifted on the chair to allow Quinn to sit next to her.

"I couldn't sleep last night so I've already written one. I had you wrapped in my arms and the words just came to me." Quinn confessed.

"Its not going to make me cry is it?"

"Rachel, it's a statement announcing our engagement I'm not going to use my words to make you cry just yet...I will with my vows though."

"Come on then, let's hear it or read it." Rachel chuckled. Quinn handed Rachel the piece of paper from her pocket containing the statement she'd scrawled at two a.m.

"_Rachel Berry and Quinn Fabray would formally like to announce their engagement. The couple would like to thank family, friends and fans for their continuing love and support. They are both delighted with the engagement and intend to marry soon. The two would like everyone to know that they each proposed in the most unique and individual of ways. Neither Rachel or Quinn has ever been as happy as they are at this moment together. Both are excited to be heading into the next stage of their relationship."_

"Is it too much? Too little? I wasn't sure how much we wanted people to know. I wanted our proposals kept either low key, so among friends and family, or fully private." Quinn asked.

"I think that should be fine."

"It's nowhere near as eloquent as you expected but I think it definitely achieves the point."

"It is eloquent. Anything that comes from your brain is well thought through and developed to its maximum, so I'm happy to release this."

"Seriously how is it we can agree on everything?"

"We're just meant to be I guess."

"I'm not going to argue there either."

"See? Completely and utterly meant to be." Rachel confirmed.


	4. Resolving Issues

**A/N: Bit of a shorter chapter where Faberry begin to address the issues they are faced with!  
>I hope you enjoy it..It gives me a bit of an idea where to take it!<br>R+R**

**All the best,**  
><strong>Klaine2314<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Resolving Issues:<strong>

"You think she'd go for it?" A hushed voice whispered.

"I don't know, it's worth a try though." Another replied. "She needs to deal with it sooner rather than later."

"When's it all going official?"

"Well we've got it all ready for publication but our agent is just fine picking it. It's been so efficient hiring this one person as our agent."

"How're you going to bring it up?"

"I have no idea. Just leave it for now, I'll sort something." The voice whispered. Slowly they opened the door and joined the other two back in the kitchen.

"Can you believe that you two leave soon?" Rachel asked her fathers.

"I can't believe we've been here for four days and tomorrow is Christmas Day."

"I'm a bit stunned that we've only been engaged for five days, Rach." Quinn piped up from the corner.

"There's only a week left of this year, after that we have seven months until we get married."

"My oh my, we have a lot to do!"

"As do we, Leroy, lets go finish packing." Hiram stated rising from his seat at the table leaving Quinn and Rachel alone in the kitchen.

-#-

"Spit it out then Berry." Quinn said immediately after the Berry men had left the kitchen.

"What?"

"Whatever you and Hiram were just discussing in the bedroom." Quinn asked pointedly. "What are you planning or trying to plan?"

"I guess I can't really hold it from you for much longer. Dad suggested that maybe we go back to Lima with them for a few days. I haven't been back in so long mainly because it was painful, but Quinn I want to go back...for you."

"Why for me? I'm happy here and have been for a similar amount of time as you."

"Quinn, we need to speak to your Mother. The announcement about our engagement will be out in a couple of days and I'd hate to be in her position. Not only does she not know that you're gay but that you're also getting married. If that was my daughter I'd be heartbroken."

"It's not as easy as that Rachel. My family is so screwed up that we'd get there and the door would be slammed in our faces simply because I never kept in touch with them."

"Quinn, I think you'll really regret not going to see her. What if she's the complete opposite and wants to support you? I'd give anything to have Shelby there at our wedding, but that's another discussion for another time. I want to focus on you right now."

"I can't Rachel. I wish I could, but I can't."

"Quinn, I'll be right there next to you. When it's over, I'm going to be right there. Nothing anyone says about you or I will ever change that. I'm always going to be right here." Rachel said, linking hers and Quinn's hand together and placing the other hand just below Quinn's heart. "Promise me that you'll think about it at least. If we don't leave today, we can go before New Year or even just before we get married. I just don't want you to pass up this opportunity because you're scared or worried about what they're going to say." Rachel explained hoping that Quinn would see things from her perspective. "She's your mother, Quinn. She deserves to hear it from you."

"Ok." Quinn simply replied.

"Ok?" Rachel repeated.

"Ok. We'll go. You're right, she does deserve to know. I wouldn't want our children to keep something like that from us. If she wants to share our happiness then great, if not, then great. As long as I have you when we walk away then nothing else matters."

"You're always going to have me." Rachel reassured her. "Almost a year ago you told me that sometimes you just need that push, as your fiancée, I felt it was important to give you that little push at this moment in time."

"I do appreciate it Rach, it's not going to be easy, you do know that right?"

"I do. I'll say it again, I'm going to be right there before, during and after." Rachel repeated before lightly kissing the blonde. "I'd better go and tell my Dads the news then, huh?"

As Rachel slowly left the room, Quinn watched as her fiancée left the room and began to evaluate what she had just agreed to do. She was going back to Lima, back to her family, back to everything and everywhere that the old Quinn haunted. Quinn's head was buzzing with thoughts and she didn't register the diva returning until she sat on her lap. "Where's your head, baby?" Rachel asked.

"Everywhere. I want to return to Lima but I'm afraid of the old Quinn being there. The one who tormented you daily, the one who was the talk of the town with her teenage pregnancy scandal and the one I've been trying to forget every single day since I left that town."

"Quinn, you're not that person and you haven't been for a long time. You have so much good in your life now that you never dreamed of back then. Go back with your head held high. Big deal that you didn't stay in touch with everyone, neither did I. Heck, you and I hadn't spoken in four years until just over a year ago and now look at us. We're engaged, happy and most importantly, we're in love. People change, times change and we've just got to learn to move with them. You're going back to your hometown an entirely different person. I'm proud to be with that person, Quinn. You should be proud of that person too." Rachel reassured her.

"I am Rach, I'm proud of the person I am now because I know that you're proud of me. I don't care what anyone else thinks, the only approval I ever seek of is yours. The woman I've chosen to spend the rest of my life with."

"Exactly, so when we get back, ignore the people that don't matter and focus on the ones that do. Once you've spoken to your Mom then we can decide whether she matters or not."

"I love you so much, Rachel."

"I love you too, Quinn."

"You are the only thing that matters to me and you always will be." Quinn assured her as she pulled her into a hug and kissed her. "I know exactly what I'm writing on my balloon this New Year."

"You mean we're doing that again?" Rachel enthused.

"Well we can, I don't know where we'll be to release them. Will we be back here or still in Lima?"

"I don't know but maybe we could go back until Sunday and then come back here for Kurt's party on Tuesday?"

"That sounds like a plan." Quinn agreed. "Plus three days in Lima sounds manageable."

"How are we going to approach your Mom? Should we call and let her know that you're back?"

"No, she'll call my Dad because as much as she won't admit it, she misses him and would do anything to get him back."

"You do anything for your true love." Rachel said absently.

"If you ever send me to the alcohol bottle as much as he did, then we're definitely not meant to be. I won't numb the pain of unhappiness with alcohol." Quinn stated.

"I know baby, I was just saying..." Rachel trailed off noting Quinn's plain expression.

"Anyway, moving on..." Rachel continued. "Is Santana around for the holidays? Kurt and Blaine are staying here in New York so I won't be visiting them."

"I think so, you want to meet up with Santana, just days after she accused us of making her permanently ill?" Quinn joked releasing the tension she was holding from moments earlier.

"We are nauseatingly sweet though Quinn. You cannot argue with that!"

"This is true...I'll give her a call. Is anyone else actually still in Lima?"

"Let's see..." Rachel started as she thought aloud. "Rory, Artie, Mercedes, Sam, Kurt, Blaine, Brittany and Santana definitely aren't. Tina and Mike may still be around there, I'm not one hundred per cent sure. That leaves..." Rachel trailed off realising who that left.

"Puck and Finn." Quinn stated plainly.

"Err, yes."

"So, do you want to meet up with our ex-boyfriends or should we take a rain check?"

"I think a rain check may be a brilliant idea. One of them got you pregnant and the other was my high school fiancé."

"Yes Rachel, I know." Quinn said through gritted teeth. "Don't make me regret agreeing to go back to that hell hole."

"Quinn, we need to deal with the issue of Finn and Puck. Clearly you aren't happy about mine and Finn's previous relationship but if I'm honest I'm still not happy about the relationship between you and Puck."

"How about we deal with things one at a time? You've finally persuaded me to go and visit my family, who I've ignored for over six years, then you mention Shelby which is a whole other issue and now you bring up Finn and Puck. It's clear we have a lot to sort our before our wedding! Are we going to have time to sort this out before July?" Quinn stated, a heavy tone in her voice.

"Quinn calm down." Rachel told her.

"I am calm. I just don't want us to get married with issues unresolved or resolved quickly because our wedding date is getting closer."

"We can solve things day by day. I shouldn't have mentioned Finn and Puck but they're the only two left in Lima now. It's going to be inevitable that we run into them, but we have one thing they don't..."

"Which is?"Quinn asked.

"Each other. I have you and you have me..."

"...the way it's always going to be." Quinn finished for her.

"Exactly. So, let's go and pack. We have some issues to begin resolving."


	5. People Can Change, Places Don't

**A/N:  
><strong>

**HERE IS THE NEW PEN NAME. I was bored of being 'Klaine2314' because for as much as I ship Klaine (I love them!) I don't really write Klaine FanFic...my main fics have been Fabrevans (I love them too!) and of course Faberry! (I love them the most!) So I'm now: faberrylovingklainer which is the same as my Tumblr url!  
><strong>

**A big thank you to every single one of you who reviews after each chapter. No matter how little you write it always makes me smile and I'm always open to suggestions about what you think should happen next! This chapter did take a while to write because I wasn't sure what content to put in!**

**In other news since I've told people on Twitter and Tumblr, I thought I'd share it with you too, I'm currently The Trevor Project's Facebook Fan of the Week! So I'm thrilled to be honoured by Trevor but this is only the start of my journey to help prevent suicide among the LGBT youth community.  
><strong>

**I did have something else to say... OH! How amazing is it that Faberry won the E! Online poll? I squealed when Dianna tweeted THAT picture! Anyway, that's enough from me! I hope you enjoy this and R+R if possible!**

**All the best,  
>faberrylovingklainer.<br>**

**p.s. If Faberry don't get together during Regionals I may cry. Quinn is totally stopping THAT wedding!  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>People Can Change, Places Don't:<strong>

The pavements were dull, the roads were grey and the sky was cloudy. Exactly the way Quinn remembered Lima. "I take it nothing changes in this town then." She said dully as they got to the Berry residence. "Why else do you think I stayed away for so long?" Rachel replied.

"If it wasn't for these two, I wouldn't have come back." She added.

"Glad to know we're still of some importance to you, Rachel." Hiram chuckled as he and Leroy got out of the car leaving the women alone.

"It's only three days Quinn and tomorrow we're going to be busy with those two anyway, so that only leaves two days."

"Do you have a plan?" Quinn asked.

"Of course I do. I'm Rachel Berry, when do I _not_ have a plan." She smirked. "So tomorrow it's obviously Christmas and we're going to be busy. I suggest we go see your Mom the day after then you have a day to recover before we fly back."

"That sounds good but what if we spoke to Mom the final day and then we can just catch our flight and not have a day to dwell on it?"

"That's reasonable, how about we see how we feel the day after tomorrow. I'm saying 'we' but it really should be how you feel, Quinn. I'm just moral support."

"You are moral support but you're also my fiancée and this could possibly affect our future so its important we go through it together, so forget the 'you' and 'me' and just focus on the 'we' of it all."

"Come on, let's go inside and unpack." Rachel instructed.

Slowly Quinn stepped onto the driveway of the Berry family home and looked around. Nothing in Lima had changed. The air tasted dirty. The atmosphere felt tense and Quinn hated every part of it. Quinn looked to Rachel and all of the horrible feelings encompassing Lima disappeared. Rachel melted them.

"I'm so glad I'm here with you." Quinn said as she walked around the car to Rachel. She put her arms around her waist and held her tightly.

"I thought we were going inside." Rachel whispered.

"We are. I just wanted to hold you first." Quinn replied as the snow began to fall around them.

"I'd forgotten it always snows in Lima. It's what used to make this time of year magical." Rachel whimpered at the feeling of the snow hitting her arm.

"Rach, it snows in New York too."

"I know, but it always makes me feel like I'm home properly when it snows here."

"You are being abnormal again."

"Oh well. You're marrying me, so that makes you abnormal too." Rachel joked.

"Maybe I'm marrying you to make you normal?"

"That's never going to happen." Rachel laughed as she removed herself from Quinn's arms and walked up to the front door.

The two quickly made themselves at home. It was as if they were still at home just waltzing around their New York apartment. Conversations were light and Quinn felt fully accepted into the Berry way of life.

"The world's out there you know." Rachel whispered as she and Quinn lay in bed that night.

"I know." Quinn whispered back.

"We've got our little sanctuary in my Dads' house but we've got to face it soon."

"We'll face it together, just like everything Rachel. I am your tower of strength; I'll hold you up when you fall and vice versa. We work best together and the only way we're ever going to work is if we share the burdens of life."

"I cannot wait to marry you, I'm taking credit for half of the beautiful things you say."

"If I can take credit for half of your voice?"

"Quinn, you've clearly _improved_ my vocal range." Rachel giggled quietly as to not disturb the Berry men like they had days earlier.

"You can't be saying things like that under your Dads' roof! You are supposed to be their innocent little girl."

"Oh whatever, you're just gutted that you can't prove it."

"Who can't prove it?" Quinn laughed as she tried to move closer to Rachel.

"We can't be doing things like _that_ under my Dads' roof! I'm supposed to be their innocent little girl, remember?" Rachel mocked slipping away from the blonde.

"You are just lucky that I love you and when we get home I intend on showing you just how much."

-#-

"Are you ready?" Rachel asked as they stood in front of the oak front door of the Fabray house. Quinn's childhood home.

"Nope, I never will be. Let's get it over with." Quinn mumbled as she reached forward and picked up the door knocker, she rapped three short times on the front door silently praying that there would be no answer.

"Should we...err?" Rachel asked looking down at their linked hands.

"No. You are my fiancée and that is the one thing I want her to know. I have no intention of hiding you from her, Rachel. I'm entering and leaving this house with my hand in yours." Quinn stated and to prove her point she held onto Rachel's hand tighter.

"Ok." Rachel simply replied as footsteps approached the door.

"Here we go..." Quinn breathed deeply.

Quinn had been trying for all of Christmas Day to prepare for this day. She knew that it was going to be hard but having Rachel, Hiram and Leroy around her had almost allowed her to forget what she was going to face. She knew that her mother wasn't going to be as accepting as Hiram and Leroy but she wasn't sure how she was going to react. Had time away from Quinn's father been long enough for her eyes to be opened to what was really going on in the world?

The door creaked open and the older blonde haired Fabray peered around the door. Rachel saw her jaw drop as she pulled the door back further to see the blonde and the brunette who were randomly stood on her door step. "Quinn?"

"Hi...Mom."

"Come in...It's cold out there." She said before fully opening the door. Her eyes remained fixed on her daughter. Quinn's hand never left Rachel's as they entered the lounge.

"It's great to see you Quinn." Judy said.

"Likewise, but there's a reason I'm here right now, I don't want to hang about and have it hanging over me during the pleasantries, we might as well get it over with now. Well there's a reason, we're here right now." Quinn said emphasising on the 'we' not just for Judy's sake but for Rachel's. Rachel was stunned at how straight to the point Quinn was being. Her reluctance to pay her Mom a visit was something Rachel had decided to push her on and she thought she may have to push her into exchanging pleasantries first but alas that wasn't to be.

"I'm sure you've read in the papers about Rachel and me." Quinn began. Rachel's eyes were fixed on Judy but Judy's were fixed on Quinn. Rachel watched as Judy pursed her lips and slowly nodded.

"Well, we've decided to get married and we wanted you to know. Whether you want to be there or not is entirely up to you. Rachel and I are getting married and becoming a family of our own, which eventually will involve children and I don't know whether you'd want to be a part of your grandchildren's lives or not. We just wanted to come here and tell you before our engagement becomes public knowledge. I know it's been a long time since we spoke and I wish I could be sorry for that, but I can't. That was a part of my life I will always regret but won't apologise for. I wish I could have come out to you sooner but I found the escapism in my writing and that has prevented me being fully honest with who I am since college. Being with Rachel has finally allowed me to be who I want to be. I want to be someone who makes her proud, I want to be someone who is worthy of her love and Mom, I'm getting to that point now. We're at the point where we're ready to take the next step." Quinn gripped Rachel's hand tighter; Rachel knew Quinn was beginning to slip.

"Mrs Fabray, we would be truly honoured if you would be there but we can also understand if you can't. Quinn and I obviously have a very public relationship and we wanted to let you know before it all came out so it didn't look to you or the media that we didn't care to tell you. I mean obviously Quinn's way of coming out to you wasn't ideal. You found out through the media and not from her which I can't even begin to imagine how difficult that would be but Quinn's here now because it was important to her to tell you about this herself. She understands how hard it was for you to accept that your daughter was gay and going completely against the beliefs she was raised with, no one understands that more than Quinn." Rachel explained, filling in where Quinn had missed. This was why Rachel was here. To support her fiancée when words began to fail.

The silence that filled the room was deafening. Neither Quinn nor Rachel knew what to say next. They sat in Judy's lounge in utter silence absorbing everything they'd just told her. Judy sat still in the armchair; her eyes had dropped from Quinn's but to the joined hands between her daughter and her fiancée. Judy knew she needed to say something but she couldn't decipher what. She didn't know whether to be happy, angry, annoyed, ecstatic, hurt or excited. There was a lot she should feel and a lot that she wanted to feel but she just wasn't sure.

"Congratulations." Judy smiled meekly, finally breaking the silence. She was processing everything. She'd wanted to be in her daughter's life for so long and here Quinn was offering her the chance. "I'm proud of you, Quinn. You are an international best seller about to start the next adventure in your life but I just don't know if I can support you or not. I'm sure Rachel, you are a lovely girl, but my morals are screaming that this is wrong and I should be doing everything in my power to stop you."

"You can't stop us." Quinn stated calmly.

"I know, but I feel like I should be. Just looking at the two of you sitting there I can see the love but my insides are going crazy. I need more time to process things."

"Of course, we wouldn't expect you to make such a big decision in five silent minutes." Rachel replied.

"Thank you, I'm sure you're not getting married for a while, are you?"

"July." Quinn informed her

"Woah, that soon? When did you get engaged?"

"Almost a week ago. I proposed first and then Rachel proposed the next day." Quinn replied, beginning to feel comfortable in her mother's presence. Quinn was relieved that her mother was asking questions about their relationship. She could only take this as a good sign.

"You both proposed?" Judy asked looking confused.

"Yes. We'd both discussed proposing because obviously neither of us is male so we didn't know who should propose. We made a plan to both have plans to propose but just not tell the other. Quinn couldn't keep it a secret and told me that she had fully planned her proposal she just obviously didn't tell me when she intended on doing it." Rachel explained.

"You two obviously share a very...odd relationship."

"We prefer the term abnormal don't we, Rach?"

"Abnormal indeed." Rachel confirmed. She wanted nothing more than to kiss Quinn chastely but she realised that Judy might not approve of such public displays of affection in her lounge.

"How've you been, Mom?" Quinn asked.

"Lonely." Judy responded dejectedly.

"How's Dad?"

"Fine, I think. I haven't seen him in a long time but he calls every now and then. Usually when he's drunk and wants to take a trip down memory lane. I'll admit, I often sit and think about how we were Quinn. I like to go down memory lane and from your first novel I can tell that you do too."

"You've read my books?"

"Of course I have. I told you that I was proud of you Quinn, I can only be truly proud of you if I support what you've accomplished. I must admit I wasn't sure which friend you were describing in that book but now I can certainly see who you were referring to." She said. She smiled at Rachel who shyly smiled back and pushed a strand of her hair behind her ear in an attempt to suppress the nerves that had begun to niggle at her. She had no idea how Judy was going to take them. She would be having words with her sixth sense later on.

"When do the two of you leave?"

"The day after tomorrow. We have a New Years Eve party that we can't miss. We were in London for New Year last year and Kurt would go crazy if we missed another one of his soirees."

"Soiree? Surely he means a party."

"The rest of the world means party; Kurt however refers to them as a soiree."

"We don't argue we just go along with it." Rachel chimed in.

"Maybe you could visit us sometime Mom? Get out of Lima for a few days."

"I can't pretend that this situation is ideal and that I'm just going to turn around and give you my blessing but maybe visiting the two of you and seeing you in everyday life would give me perspective on your relationship."

"I think that sounds like a great idea. We have a spare bedroom so don't worry about checking into a hotel, unless of course that would make you more comfortable. It's entirely up to you." Rachel suggested.

"Thank you." Judy replied.

"I think we'd better go." Quinn said as she rose from the couch. "I'm sorry if we dropped a bombshell on you Mom, but Rachel's right, I'm glad we came to tell you and you didn't read it in some trashy magazine."

"It was nice to meet you, Mrs Fabray. I look forward to seeing you again." Rachel smiled as Quinn led her from the lounge and into the hallway.

Judy stood and followed the two to the front door where she mumbled a quiet and solitary goodbye. She watched as Quinn held open the car door for Rachel then walked to the other side and got in. Judy observed as the car slowly reversed onto the road and the two women drove away.


	6. A New Year

**Right... Firstly, I am SOsorry for the ridiculous time between updates. I've been hooked on writing my other fic 'Somebody That I Used To Know' which is also Faberry which sucked most of my creativity. I really wanted to try and write this chapter sooner but I've had trouble concentrating on it... I'm worried that I've lost my emotional connection with these versions of Quinn and Rachel. I hope to recapture them, but I honestly can't promise when the next update for this will be. I hope you stick with me because this will be finished. I never ever write and not finish something. I can assure you that.**

**So to whoever has stuck with this from day one or from the prequel I thank you so much. To new readers, thanks for deciding to read this.**  
><strong>This chapter is a bit of everything: aftermath of meeting Judy, fluff between Faberry and their family situations, Kurt and Blaine's NY soiree, Faberry loving at the end. :)<strong>

**All the best,  
>faberrylovingklainer<br>**

* * *

><p><strong>A New Year:<strong>

"Well she took that very...well." Rachel said as they drove home.

"Almost too well. I honestly didn't expect her to ask to think about it. I expected a flat out no, a few choice words and the door slammed in our faces." Quinn replied. "Thanks Rachel. Thanks for pushing me into this. I really needed it and I may have my Mom back at the end of it. I can't thank you enough. I may pretend like I don't care that I have no relationship with them but you saw through that and pushed me."

"If anything's going to make you even a tiny bit happier then I am more than happy to push you." Quinn placed her hand on Rachel's thigh as she drove and they both just enjoyed the comfortable silence.

* * *

><p>"How'd it go?" Hiram asked as the two women entered the lounge and collapsed onto the couch.<p>

"Fifty fifty really. She didn't slam the door in our face or welcome us with open arms. She's taking the time to think about it, which is much more than I ever expected." Quinn told them.

"Sometimes people really can change."

"Do you think she'll speak to your Dad?" Rachel asked. It had been playing on her mind ever since Quinn had asked how Russell had been doing.

"I honestly don't know and he's the one person I honestly don't care about in the slightest. The relationship he and I shared vanished the moment he set the timer on that microwave when I was sixteen." Quinn admitted her voice quivering with emotion. She hated talking about Russell and anything where Beth was concerned.

"Hey calm down baby. It's ok. Your Mom was who we wanted to speak to and we have. Don't even think about him ever again." Rachel said soothing her fiancée.

"Plus Quinn, you have us now. Two fathers instead of one." Leroy joked which forced Quinn into a weak smile.

"Well soon we'll be your fathers." Hiram added.

"I can't wait." Quinn admitted.

"You're already family." Leroy said.

"We're just one big happy family...just not legally." Rachel laughed.

"I am counting down the days until I make you my wife Rachel Berry." Quinn said sincerely.

"Likewise." Rachel countered.

"You two better head up to bed, you have an early flight tomorrow, don't you?"

"That we do." Quinn said rising from the couch, pulling Rachel up with her.

-#-

"I love your Dads, you know." Quinn said as she got changed ready for bed while Rachel turned down the bed and dived under the blankets.

"They love you too, baby."

"I'm glad. It's nice to know we'll have at least two parents at our wedding."

"I think your Mom is going to surprise us. I could see in her eyes today she really wanted to give us her blessing but her beliefs were holding her back. If she visits us in New York her eyes will be truly opened, so don't worry Quinn. You will have family there. Will your sister definitely not come?"

"Oh no. Frannie and I haven't really gotten on since I got pregnant and disgraced the Fabray name. Of course, she tried to worm her way back into my life once I became successful. Her marriage had just broken down and she didn't want to handle our father's disgust so she came to me." She explained as she climbed into the bed.

"What did you do, Quinn?"

"I turned her away. It was exactly what she did to me when I got pregnant. I told her that I had to live with our father's shame so she needed to know what it felt like to be in my shoes. I've been in two minds how I truly feel about it. Part of me wishes I hadn't turned her away, she's my sister but the other wants her to feel like I did, shunned by our family, that's a feeling I will never forget."

"Maybe its time we changed that?"

"What're you suggesting?"

"I know it sounds hard and really strange but don't think of them as your family anymore. Yeah you may share blood but really what else do you honestly share? You've been pretty much independent since you were sixteen. You haven't had that family feeling since then and I want to change that. From this day forward I am your family. I don't need a marriage certificate to clarify that. You are the only family I need."

"You can't just remove your Dads like that baby." Quinn tried to counter.

"I'm not, but in our family it's just you and me." Rachel replied placing her hand on top of Quinn's stomach and propping herself up on her other arm.

"I like that idea, actually I love that idea." She said leaning across to kiss her.

"See I have fantastic ideas."

"In fairness, I never said you didn't." Quinn replied kissing her again. "Wedding question..."

"Oooh my favourite type of question." Rachel enthused.

"When can we officially start planning and begin to look at dates etc? I am anticipating a phone call from Lindsay any day after New Year and she is going to be on my case looking for the next novel which I can't be struggling to write whilst we argue over wedding dress designs and flower choices."

"There won't be any arguments about flowers and dresses don't worry, you tell me when you need time to write and I'll plan and just get your opinions. I'm not going to be finding time between wedding planning and the stage anymore so it'll be all fine."

"We're not going to have arguments because I need to write and you're desperate to decide on flowers though are we?" Quinn asked worriedly, desperate for clarification.

"Of course not Quinn. I need you to write the best book of your career because our wedding is unlikely to be cheap." Rachel joked. "Have you got an idea?"

"I think so but I'm not too sure. I was kind of hoping we bumped into two certain men for a bit of inspiration."

"I'm pleased we didn't bump into them. Imagine how awkward that could have been...They know we're together though, I mean, they do read the newspapers and we've definitely been outed." Rachel laughed.

"Oh yes, that we have baby. Come on, we need to sleep, early flight! I'm not sure if you're aware but you are incredibly nervous before you fly and I need you to get a good night's sleep so you're not on edge during the plane ride home."

"Night baby." Rachel replied, loving the concern she was receiving from her fiancée.

"Good night Rach." The blonde said as she closed her eyes and fell asleep to the musical sound of Rachel's breathing.

* * *

><p>"Glad you ladies could make it." Kurt said as he opened the door to the apartment he shared with his boyfriend, Blaine.<p>

"You thought we'd miss this?" Rachel mocked.

"You've been out of reach for a couple of days, I know you got back on Sunday afternoon but not even a phone call to say you had survived the joys of Lima."

"We've been…busy." Rachel blushed and avoided his gaze. Quinn smiled proudly at her fiancée's embarrassment. Truth was they hadn't left the bedroom since they'd got back. Quinn had told Rachel in Lima that she wanted to show the diva how much she loved her and she hadn't failed in her declaration of love. The brunette had been equally as giving in her expression of love. Their wedding plans had been momentarily forgotten as they finally celebrated their engagement. Quinn saw the blush in her fiancée's cheek and gently kissed her cheek. She felt Rachel relax beside her.

"PDAs to a minimum tonight please ladies."

"Woah, Kurt, don't be hasty." Quinn blurted. "We just got engaged. If you thought we were insufferable before you clearly didn't think what would happen if our relationship got a whole lot deeper." Quinn explained.

"Ok, keep the PDA away from my poor sensitive eyes." He replied with a chuckle.

The women mingled and tried to keep their affection to a minimum, they both laughed at the other's effort. Just before midnight Quinn pulled Rachel to the roof of Kurt's building. "What are you doing?" Rachel asked as Quinn pulled two balloons and two markers from her purse.

"It's time."

"I thought you'd forgotten!" Rachel squealed as she began blowing up the balloon.

"Nope, I just wanted to let them go when the clock hits twelve this time."

"Oh so romantic." Rachel joked as she took the cap off the pen. She didn't know what she could write this time, the blonde already knew how she felt. She closed her eyes and felt herself search deeper into her soul than she knew was possible.

Quinn was forever telling the brunette how much she cared for and loved her. She wished she'd never invented this silly game, but she liked the idea that it would become a tradition for them. One that even when their four kids were hyperactive on sugar counting down the seconds to the New Year that Quinn and Rachel always had this moment to share. That's when it hit her.

Quinn quickly checked her watch seeing that they had thirty seconds until the clock hit midnight. "Baby, are you done? It's not an essay writing contest." She joked as Rachel quickly threw her pen down. She held her hand on her hip and Quinn simply slipped her arm through the gap and around the diva's waist. "So on the chime we let them go." Quinn instructed. "10, 9, 8, 7, 6…" She began

"5, 4, 3, 2, 1." They said together. The fireworks began seconds later and floating in the sky were two balloons. Two symbols of love and happiness.

"Happy New Year, baby." Quinn said softly leaning down to kiss the brunette. Rachel could only sigh in response. This was the year their lives were both going to change. Rachel held onto the back of Quinn's dress tightly as their kiss continued well past the fireworks. Rachel felt the blonde's arms move from her waist and move up her body towards her neck where she held on as she lowered her mouth nipping at the diva's neck and collarbone.

"Not yet…" Rachel panted as she tried to draw breath. Not for the first time had the blonde left her breathless after a kiss. "Tell me what you wrote…" She said. Her breathing finding its normal rhythm after a slow pursuit.

Quinn let out a frustrated growl and nipped at the brunette sharply, knowing she'd have left a mark. "Don't play games like this if you aren't going to see them through." Rachel warned.

"I was going to, but somebody wanted to talk." Quinn sighed.

"I didn't mean…that." Rachel blushed removing herself from the writer's grip and going to sit on the edge of the rooftop. "Come. Sit." She commanded. Quinn simply sighed and followed, carefully sitting herself down next to her fiancée.

"What did you write?" Rachel asked for a second time.

"Hold up, if I remember correctly, I went first last year, it's your turn." Quinn replied smiling as she took the diva's hand and entwined their fingers.

"That's fair enough." The brunette sighed as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I wrote… _'A year has gone since I told you that you'd saved me from an eternity spent in unhappiness. They say that everything happens for a reason. I needed to be unhappy to get to where I am now. Right now I'm happy, but next year I know I'll be ever happier than I am at this very moment.'_ It's not an essay but it's close to one." The diva explained. Quinn lent across and kissed her fiancée gently.

"Baby, you will never know unhappiness again." Quinn whispered.

"Thank you." She simply replied.

"I don't think I'm going to beat that." Quinn mocked in remembrance of what the diva had said the year before.

"'_When I think of how I feel about you, my brain freezes because I want to tell you every single thing that comes to my mind. You cause a traffic jam in my brain. From now until my last day I'll try and free the words to tell you exactly how I feel.'_ Sorry it wasn't anything spectacular or inspirational. You sucked my creativity. When I try to think about how I truly feel about you I remember that I've already told you. The next time we do this we'll be married. Our lives will truly have merged. In however many years from now when we do this, our tribe of children will be running around high on sugar but we'll still find the time to do this, it's our thing and from this day forward I'll be thinking everyday what I want to say to you on New Years Eve." Quinn explained, trying to make up for missing the important stuff.

"I love you Rachel. I can't put it in a fancy expression because it's that simple." She added smiling at the brunette.

"Quinn, you don't have to wow me with your words, you've already done that. I know how much you care for me because you tell me everyday in the most wonderful of ways. Hearing you say 'I love you' always gives me butterflies because I feel it. I know it." Rachel explained. "You know something?" She asked but didn't wait for a reply. "I. Love. You." She added punctuating each word with a soft kiss to her partner's lips.

"Let's go home." The blonde said as she stood up pulling the tiny diva with her. They quickly said their goodbyes to Kurt and Blaine and wandered through the bustling city streets. People were too high on the celebrations to realise who they were. They got to their apartment and as soon as the door was locked Rachel pushed the writer against it and pulled her neck down and attacked her lips with desire. Motionless Quinn stood and soaked up the passion her fiancée was giving her. She felt the brunette's tongue against her lower lip and instantly her mouth was open and her head angled giving Rachel the permission she was looking for. Their tongues met and the passion intensified. She felt the brunette's hands move from the back of her neck to the zipper at the back of her dress. Quinn broke away and husked the words 'Bedroom.'

Rachel dove straight back in and guided them to their bedroom, never once removing her lips from Quinn's. Clothes were shed as soon as they reached the doorway. "You are so beautiful." Rachel growled against the blonde's neck as she lowered them to their bed. "Nothing compared to you," was the last thing Rachel heard before the sound of love took over the room.


	7. Struggling For Inspiration

**Readers, I can only thank you for sticking with this. I said previously it will be completed and I stick to that. Today I wrote down every thing I want to happen as an overview. I have a plot and a reason to continue. It's there for the people that want it! I've probably bitten off more than I can chew writing three different fics at the same time but I'll learn from my mistakes. Going to get into an updating schedule anyway!**

**Enjoy!  
>faberrylovingklainer :)<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Struggling For Inspiration:<strong>

"Why can't we just have the wedding here in New York?" Quinn asked as they sat with a map of the States spread on their laps.

"That's boring. I want it to be out of state, potentially even out of the country,"

"They spent years trying to get equal rights here though; it's like sticking two fingers up at those who fought for it,"

"I guess I see your point, but we live here. There's no romance in it,"

"Honey, we're expecting people flying across the country for us. Imagine their faces if we said we wanted the wedding in London, not everyone can afford that. We're pretty lucky remember,"

Rachel opened her mouth to argue back but Quinn quickly interrupted. "We're financially stable but that doesn't mean we can afford to fly everyone across the Atlantic, before that idea even pops into your pretty head."

"I wasn't going to suggest that actually!" Rachel argued back.

"Well what then?"

"I was going to agree with you," She stated. "People did fight valiantly for equal rights and we'd be doing them an injustice if we got married out of state."

"I'm glad you understand," Quinn said leaning across to kiss her cheek gently.

"Maybe we could save the travelling for our honeymoon then?" Rachel asked.

"Definitely," Quinn nodded quickly. "I'll go get the atlas." She said diving off the couch.

* * *

><p>"So a European adventure?" Rachel exclaimed excitedly flicking the pages of the book shut.<p>

"A European adventure," Quinn repeated a huge grin appearing on her face. "A European adventure with my wife. Sounds perfect." She added snuggling closer to the diva before resting her head on her partner's shoulder. Rachel hummed in response as she placed the book onto the coffee table in front of them.

"Sounds amazing," She concurred dropping her head slightly so it rested on top of the blonde's. "You better not be falling asleep," Rachel said when she felt her own eyes beginning to droop.

"Nope, just resting my eyes."

"Quinn Fabray!" She exclaimed lifting her head up and jerking the blonde off of her shoulder. "Lindsay's calling in the next hour, can't you wait?"

"That's why I was only resting them, I wasn't sleeping."

"I know when you're about to sleep and that was one of those times. Go to the kitchen, drink some coffee and plan what you're going to say to your editor. She's not going to be impressed you have nothing you know."

"I know, I know." She sighed retreating to the kitchen.

The truth was Quinn was struggling to come up with an original idea. Everything seemed regurgitated; she didn't want to be known forever as the writer whose stories always had love and a happy ending. There was much more to Quinn than that. In her mind she wrote about love because she dreamed about it. She dreamed of having an eternal love with someone who loved her back. She'd always dreamed of having Rachel Berry and now she had her. She was getting married to her.

She needed to think deeper and look past the basics of storytelling. She wanted to touch another person's soul. She'd already achieved that though; her first novel had spoken to Rachel so deeply that when she'd found out Quinn had written it she'd given the blonde her heart without a moment's thought.

The blonde's breath hitched when she felt the diva's arms snake around her waist. "Is everything ok?" She whispered gently.

"Not really. I'm dreading this phone call," She sighed. "I just don't know what to tell Lindsay."

"Tell her the truth,"

"I don't know what that is. I can't find another story within me. It's killing me. I've written about love because that's what I wanted. Now I have that I can't find something else I want." She explained turning in her fiancée's arms, placing her arms on the small of Rachel's back as the diva moved her own arms and placed them around the blonde's neck.

"I already have everything, but I'm just not ready to give in."

"No one expects you to give in Quinn. Can you remember telling me about the writer's block you had just before we got together?" Rachel replied. Quinn nodded curtly in response. "Then we happened and everything just fell into place. You need another one of those moments."

"I know, but how can I just sit around and wait for it to happen. Lindsay can't be my editor without anything to edit." Rachel knew this wasn't easy for her fiancée. She needed a source of inspiration, thinking quickly Rachel got to work.

"What did you feel when you proposed?" Rachel asked quickly; time was against them. Lindsay would be calling irrespective of Quinn's current predicament.

"Huh?"

"Just answer the question. When you proposed to me, how did you feel?"

"I was terrified, especially when I thought you weren't going to check the dedication. I thought I was going to have to force you to open it and read it…" Quinn laughed remembering. "But then you did and when you said 'yes' well I could have exploded with happiness."

"Exactly, can you remember the exact reason you were so happy?"

"I don't think there was just one reason," Quinn replied.

"Go on then…"

"I'm not sure why we're discussing this now, but I'll answer your question. Firstly, I was elated because the love of my life; the person I've loved since I was seventeen agreed to be my wife: to marry me. Secondly, this woman had agreed to become a part of my family something I hadn't had since I was eighteen. I left Lima, I left everything without looking back. This brings us to point number three, this woman might be the only member of my family actually at my wedding and I guess that made me a little sad but then I remembered when we're parents there's nothing my children could do that would make me stop loving them." She explained gazing deep into the giant brown eyes. She dipped her head and grazed her lips against the diva's. Breaking apart quickly she rested her head gently against her fiancée's.

"I think you know what you want Quinn, you're just too afraid to truly admit it." Rachel replied after quickly analysing what she'd just heard.

"Don't say it Rachel," Quinn begged.

"I need to Quinn. If this is something you truly want; it'll unlock so much for you to write about." Rachel begged. "I can't help but feel I'm overstepping my boundaries but we're getting married, Quinn. There shouldn't be boundaries for me to overstep."

Quinn couldn't help herself, she pulled away. She walked out of the kitchen and to her office. Her sanctuary. Her safe haven. She slammed the door closed hoping Rachel would get the hint and not follow her. However she knew Rachel wouldn't just leave her. They always worked through their disagreements. One of the first things Quinn had said to the brunette when they'd disagreed was that she hated having arguments hanging over her head; it messed with her creativity. Except that wouldn't really be a problem this time. She had no creativity to mess with.

The door to the office opened slowly and the diva peeked inside. Quinn was staring out of the window, sitting on her faux leather office chair. Quinn had heard the door open but hadn't turned around. She closed her eyes as she heard the diva pad around the room. She closed her eyes and tried to steady her breathing.

"I'm sorry," Rachel said timidly as she lightly touched the blonde's hand that was resting on the arm of the chair closest to hair. "I shouldn't have pushed you," she added. Quinn continued to focus on her breathing. Her heart which had been racing due to anger was now racing due to the soft touch of her fiancée's hand on top of her own. Blindly she reached out and grabbed the diva's waist, gently she pulled her down onto her lap. Rachel placed her hands around Quinn's neck and closed her eyes soaking up the feeling of being so close to the woman she loved.

"You should have left it, Rachel." Quinn finally said.

"I know. I'm sorry,"

"I know you are. I still have some issues there," She replied. "Unresolved issues, stuff that's going to take time."

"Do you want to delay the wedding?"

"God no," She replied quickly, rubbing her hand up Rachel's back to soothe her. "I'm ready to marry you, this isn't about that. It's going to be really difficult knowing you're the only family I have there."

"We don't know your Mom isn't going to be there, she never gave us a definite answer."

"She won't be there, Rachel." Quinn replied resolutely. "If she was really happy for us she'd have told us then and there."

"Just don't give up hoping." Rachel soothed. "You might not have your family, but my Dads will be there and they love you like their own. Santana will be there and let's face it; she's practically your sister." Quinn just sighed. "I know that's not what you want to hear right now, baby, but once we're married and have our own children both of us will know the true meaning of family. Nothing will be more important to us than each other and our brood of gorgeous children."

Quinn said nothing in response. She sat and continued to stare out of the office window, gently stroking Rachel's arm as she became lost in her thoughts. The one thing she wanted most in the world was sitting on her lap; what could she want possibly more than that? Her family. Not a family; the kind she had with Rachel, but her family. The one whose blood was in her veins, the family she was born into. More than that she wanted their acceptance. She didn't want them to care she was a lesbian or getting married to another woman. She wanted them to care that she was successful; she'd worked herself into the ground to get where she was today. She wanted nothing more than their support. She wanted them to celebrate her success together and with Rachel proudly by her side.

"You've found it haven't you?" Rachel asked quietly after the silence had become too much for her.

"I think so," Quinn meekly replied as the phone in her office started ringing.

"Right on time…" Rachel stated as she got up off Quinn's lap and kissed her lightly. "I'll make some dinner,"

"That'd be great," Quinn said as she spun around in her chair reaching for the phone.

"Don't be too long," The diva added before closing the door behind her.


	8. The Past Can Be A Scary Place

**The Past Can Be A Scary Place:**

Rachel stepped into the vocal booth and exhaled deeply. Her mind racing; she'd never dreamed she'd be given the opportunity to record her own album. She knew the jump from Broadway to mainstream was massive. By the very least her Broadway fans might buy into the jump; it was convincing the rest of the world that there was more to her than just show tunes.

Song selection had been much more difficult than she'd originally thought. Songs she wanted to sing were either apparently no longer in her range (according to her manager) or the original artists weren't happy with releasing their music to another artist. Quinn had suggested she write her own music but she'd politely declined. Writing her own songs was always a struggle and with their wedding coming up she didn't need the extra stress. Her label had booked her a lot of studio time to get the music recorded; she knew this was it. Her musical career could depend on this.

Putting the headphones on and signalling to the technician in the audio booth that she was ready, the instrumental music began to fill her ears. She closed her eyes and allowed the music to take over. Music was the blood coursing through her veins; she didn't know of anything else. Well until Quinn. Now music and love flowed evenly through her veins. They were her two means to live; her reasons to continue.

* * *

><p>Quinn sat at her desk trying to work on an outline before Lindsay called. Her conversation with the editor had been successful the other night but Lindsay had asked for a final draft overview by three pm, so far Quinn had nothing. She was scared of tapping into a part she'd kept locked for what felt like an eternity. She closed her eyes and tried to recall parts of her childhood, just like she'd done with her first novel. All she could remember wanting was acceptance, love and happiness. Until her pregnancy if there was an issue it was ignored, it didn't exist, and then once she'd gotten pregnant they could no longer ignore things that were stood right in front of them, so she was kicked out. Moving back in with her Mom after Beth was born was difficult; they got by with minimal effort and conversation. Leaving Lima for college was the easiest decision she ever made. There was too much history in that small Ohio town to last her a lifetime. Too much regret, shame and sorrow. There were so many stories she could tell and then it hit her like a ten tonne truck. She had to tell her own.<p>

Instantly she got to work. Her hands rapidly hitting the keys as she wrote exactly how she felt at that moment. She knew there was one thing she wanted more than anything in the world: her mother at her wedding. Could she get it? She could only hope.

* * *

><p>Rachel sighed as she put the headphones down and exited the recording booth. Her session hadn't been a total disaster but she'd suddenly developed a lot more respect for recording artists. On the stage she only had one chance to hit the big notes during each performance; whereas in the booth she had several chances. She was beginning to get sick of building up to the same note only to be told she wasn't being passionate enough, or she was too sharp, pitchy and numerous others. She was looking forward to getting home to Quinn. The blonde would hold her until she felt better. It wasn't that she was upset with her performance in the booth; she was just disappointed. Sombrely she left the studio and drove home. The traffic was hectic as always and for once she wasn't annoyed. She couldn't be bothered to shout at taxi drivers who cut her up or at random people who didn't indicate before turning off. She just wanted to get home. There was nothing more to it.<p>

* * *

><p>"I know that Lindsay, this will sell. I'm sick of telling the traditional love story," Quinn argued. Her editor had called thirty minutes ago to run through the overview.<p>

"People expect you to write the beautiful love story though, Quinn. You need to write what sells!"

"How many times do I have to tell you, or tell Trevor that it's not the money I'm interested in?" Quinn exclaimed. "A mother's love is supposed to be unconditional; I want to write that that isn't necessarily true," Quinn added trying to calm herself before she got too irate.

"Can I ask you a personal question, Lindsay?"

"It depends," the editor replied.

"Are you and your Mom close?"

"Of course, I flew her and my Dad into the city to spend Christmas with me and Zach, why?"

"I don't have that relationship with my mother." She stated flatly.

In all the time Lindsay had known Quinn, she didn't know much about the blonde's past. Their relationship was pretty much all business, apart from the occasional dinner or drinks, they only really communicated via telephone.

"My parents disowned me after I got pregnant in my sophomore year of high school, I moved in with various people until Beth was born. My mother took me home when she'd kicked my father out after she'd found out he was having an affair. They say your high school years are some of the hardest you'll endure, I can certainly testify to that." Quinn explained softly.

It was time her editor knew some of her darkest thoughts.

"Our relationship since then has been strained to say the least. I got out of Lima, began college, got into writing and haven't looked back. It wasn't until Rachel and I went back to Lima with her Dads a couple of weeks ago that I saw my mother again. We told her about us and she didn't kick us out like I anticipated nor did she jump up with happiness. We invited her to our wedding but a part of me knows she isn't going to turn up and it's starting to eat me up. I'd love for my mother to be there, but that means she has to really consider some of the beliefs that she built her life around. I'm marrying Rachel with or without my mother there and there's not a doubt in my mind about that but I'd love it if she was there." Quinn finished and rubbed her eyes. For days she'd been fighting back the tears on the whole subject, she didn't think it would affect her this much.

"Quinn, I never knew." Lindsay finally muttered.

"There was no reason for you to know,"

"I'm not just your editor; I'm your agent, Quinn." She replied. "What if the press had gotten hold of this information when you and Rachel came out?"

"Adoption records are sealed until Beth turns eighteen, by then Rachel and I will be old news. The press won't be interested by then,"

"What if an ex sold a story about it? Have you thought about this at all?"

"Of course I have. As for exes, you know my dating history, how many do you think would have the nerve to actually attempt to sell a story on me?"

"That's true, I just wish you'd told me Quinn."

"I have now though. I need you to understand how much this means to me. I need the acceptance or at least an acknowledgment of acceptance."

"Get started Quinn, let me read some and then we'll take it from there." Lindsay said with a touch of finality in her voice.

"I'm taking the night off to spend with my fiancée, just thinking about having to delve into such dark areas is emotionally exhausting."

"Did you set a wedding date yet?"

"Rachel wants a summer wedding, we were thinking of July,"

"I'd suggest getting your head down and getting a good first draft done. If you're serious about wanting your mother at your wedding then we need to have it out there by May minimum. That's five months from now, it's practically impossible."

"I know it's a lot to ask and a lot to do."

"It's a mammoth task, but if you believe in this and want this as strongly as you're saying then there's no reason that you shouldn't achieve it."

"I know. Opening up the old wounds is going to be difficult but I have Rachel now, I have the end product of such a difficult past. I really can't ask for more."

"Exactly, just remember it's already happened. You've got past that point. Look at where you are today. You know everything turns out ok in the end."

"Thanks Lindsay, I'm sorry for just unloading all of this on you,"

"No problem, it's good that I know, just in case anything does get leaked. Take care, Quinn."

"You too. Bye." Quinn said as she hung up the phone.

She looked at the clock, Rachel would be home any minute. She couldn't be bothered to make them a big dinner after such an exhausting day so instead she dialled the vegan thai takeout they had discovered and ordered their meals. She slumped into the lounge and flopped face first into the couch. It had been one of those days.

Finally Rachel pulled into the parking lot attached to their apartment block. She put the key in the lock to their apartment and opened it slowly. "Baby, I'm home," she called out to in the silent apartment. Quinn groaned in response, too tired to even speak.

"Hey sweetie, what's wrong?" Rachel hurriedly asked as she entered the lounge and saw the blonde's passed out state.

"Emotionally exhausted," She sighed as she turned onto her front and pulled the diva down to lie on top of her.

"Aww," Rachel cooed, kissing her fiancée's cheek. "Do you want to talk about it?" She offered.

"I'm all talked out, rain check?"

"Of course, you know I'm always here."

"I do, and I love you for it." She smiled, before adding a kiss to her lips. "Now, tell me about your day my little superstar."

"Not great," She replied flatly.

"Huh? Why, what happened?"

"I kept getting told I was pitchy or I was too sharp. He even said I didn't have enough passion. I could have slapped him; who is he to say I'm not passionate enough? Has he even seen one of my shows?"

"I mean this in the sweetest way possible, but probably not. Sure your performances were sell outs but how many do you think were tourists? Maybe sixty to seventy per cent? He's just a technician, he doesn't go scouting performers to record albums, that's all the label's responsibility."

"I guess you're right, it just really pissed me off."

"I know, but next time you're in just show him he's wrong."

"Oh honey, I intend on it. From now until Friday I'm going to be working on my songs non-stop,"

"Thanks for the warning!" Quinn joked.

"You love my voice,"

"Maybe it'll motivate me to begin writing then,"

Before Rachel could respond a knock on the door alerted them. "That'll be the food," Quinn said forcing the diva off of her so she could answer the door.

"Food?"

"I was too tired to cook so I just ordered thai."

"Oh, ok then." Rachel shrugged. "Next time can you wait until I get home though, I could have done with cooking tonight, to de-stress." She added on her way to the kitchen. Quinn paid the delivery boy and made her way to the kitchen where Rachel had begun putting plates out.

"Yeah sure, sorry,"

"Don't apologise, it'd just be nice to sometimes come home and cook,"

"I assumed you'd be tired after a busy day in the studio,"

"I am, but I'm used to working every night and now I have the evenings off I want to explore different recipes I've been collecting."

"Ok well tomorrow night, I'll let you cook for me, how does that sound?" Quinn smirked.

"Perfect," Rachel sighed as they sat at the dining table. "Plus takeout is incredibly bad for us, even if it is vegan. We have wedding dresses we want to fit into,"

"We'll just have to exercise more," Quinn said quirking an eyebrow.

"What on earth are you insinuating, Miss Fabray?" Rachel replied sultrily.

"Jogging through the park? Cross trainers at the gym? They all sound pretty good to me," She chuckled.

"I prefer exercising at home, and since you've taken the spare bedroom for an office we'll have to think of another way to work out at home."

"Ok, ok, enough innuendos!" Quinn laughed.

This was just the kind of evening both needed. A night in the company a loved one. No worries about work for the rest of the day; just freedom. It wouldn't be long before tomorrow approached and they were both weighed down once more. Regardless of how busy they were they had the other to come home too and they knew that made it that much more worthwhile.

* * *

><p><strong>R+R? :)<strong>


	9. You Do Want To Get Married, Don't You?

**You Do Want To Get Married, Don't You?:**

"Busy day today?" Quinn asked over breakfast.

"Yeah, I've got a couple more songs to record, we're hoping to have finished one by today."

"How many do you have officially finished?"

"Five,"

"So another five to go?"

"Well we were thinking of ten official tracks and then a bonus track,"

"Sounds good. How's it going with the technician?"

"Much better, we have a good time together now. He's a cool guy and you were right he'd never seen me perform on Broadway. We talked about a couple of tracks and when he said he didn't think I was able to hit the higher notes, I needed to show him that I could."

"You showed him a video didn't you?" Quinn asked quirking her eyebrow upwards. Rachel blushed under Quinn's intense gaze. "I totally knew it!"

"I couldn't help it. He had to see that I can totally kill 'Defying Gravity' and that no song is out of my range."

"Yeah I get it baby, I'm just happy that everything's going well."

"I feel bad that our wedding plans haven't been happening lately."

"Don't worry we just might have to push back the July idea,"

"No! I really wanted a summer wedding. It'll be far too hot in August."

"Well why not September? The leaves will be falling and it'll be really romantic."

"But I wanted July," Rachel pouted.

"It's mid February though,"

"We could go look at reception venues tomorrow, I'm free from the studio and you set your own schedule."

"I'll have to see because I really need to get this draft finished by this weekend."

"Oh ok, well we'll talk when I get home?" Rachel said grabbing her purse off the counter.

"Sure thing," Quinn said pouring herself another cup of coffee. Rachel chastely pecked her lips before heading out of the apartment. Once outside she slouched against the wall and released a deep sigh. She thought Quinn would be excited about looking for a venue for their forthcoming wedding. She took a long stride to the elevator and just hoped that her fiancée would have a good day and would be more willing to discuss venues when she got home from the studio later.

* * *

><p>"Let's run the chorus again," Stu said pressing the talkback button in the booth.<p>

"How can I make it different?"

"I'm going to slow it down just a little bit so you can do the first one slowly and then build up the finale of the song."

"Sounds great," Rachel said pulling the headphones back on securely. She heard the bridge of the song and then the chorus slowly began to play. It was a slightly slower version than the original. Rachel knew the song well and was glad when they'd allowed her the rights to it. She'd sung it before and loved it dearly.

"_So who do you think you are?_

_Running round leaving scars,_

_Collecting your jar of hearts._

_You're gonna catch a cold, _

_From the ice inside your soul._

_So don't come back for me, _

_Who do you think you are?"_

She sang softly and quietly, desperately searching for the right balance. She tried to lock in her emotion. It wasn't a song she could emotionally connect to Quinn. She knew the blonde would never hurt her. She was always going to be there. She gave it a few attempts when finally she knew she'd hit it. It was so soft it was almost chilling. It would give her a great boost when she finally got to the final chorus when she could belt the notes out of the water. Rachel wasn't naïve enough to think that Quinn was at the forefront of her mind the first time she'd sang this song. She really was singing it to Finn. He had broken her heart and at the time Quinn didn't realise that neither of them needed to be with him. They needed to find each other.

* * *

><p>A couple of hours later, she hung up her headphones and was getting ready to leave the studio when her phone rang. It was her label manager.<p>

"Rachel? I'm so glad I've finally caught you at a good time."

"Hi Gerry, is everything ok?"

"I should be asking you that, you just got out of the studio, right?"

"I did indeed."

"Well? Was it a good session?"

"Yeah pretty good. I'm happy with the outcome so far."

"We are too. Stu sent us a demo of 'Without You' the other day and it blew us away." Gerry gushed. "You are a solid investment Rachel Berry!"

"Well thanks, I'm just going to keep doing what I'm doing and if it makes you happy then I'm happy."

"Well we're generating a small buzz about your album. We've placed advertisements in a couple of magazines and we are trying to shake off the 'Broadway' tag when it comes to you."

"What's bad about the 'Broadway' tag?"

"Nothing per se. It's just we need you to be more marketable for non-Broadway lovers."

"Oh, so more sales?"

"Exactly! The buzz has been okay so far, we're going to release a song via the internet when they're finished and see what happens."

"That sounds great,"

"We thought so," he laughed. "Well if you get a big buzz we do want to do a tour, so we need to discuss locations with you."

"A tour?" Rachel exclaimed.

"Yes. We're staying in the US for now, but we wouldn't be opposed to London, Manchester and Dublin possibly."

"Wow. That's amazing."

"It certainly is. I know how busy you are, but I noticed you should have a free day tomorrow. Can you come in for a meeting? I know its short notice but we've been trying to arrange something with you for a while. Stu's been holding you captive in that studio."

"Well my fiancée and I were going to look at venues for our wedding tomorrow. I'm going home to discuss whether we can go tomorrow or not right now actually."

"Look Rachel, it's extremely difficult to get everyone on our team in one room at the same time, if it's not tomorrow then I have no idea when it could next be."

"I understand that, but we're looking at getting married in July. We really need a venue."

"So go on Friday after you've been in the studio. Do this for me Rachel, just this once. I promise I'll never ask you to compromise your wedding plans again." Gerry begged. He was desperate. Rachel was his big coup, he couldn't let her lose this opportunity. He heard Rachel sigh into the speaker.

"Ok. I'll do it. I doubt Quinn will be available to go tomorrow anyway."

"Okay. It's meeting room twelve on the third floor at eleven."

"No problem. I'll be there."

"Thanks again Rachel."

"No thank you. It is a fantastic opportunity."

"That it is! See you tomorrow, Rachel."

"Bye Gerry."

Rachel hung up and put her phone away. She was screwed if Quinn wanted to go and look at venues tomorrow. Even if she did it wouldn't take the whole day, or so she convinced herself. Who was she kidding? She was a high maintenance diva who was hell bent on finding the perfect reception venue for her first evening as the wife of Quinn Fabray. It had to be perfect. She sighed once more when she knew that finding that perfect venue was going to be that bit more difficult with one less day to do it. She would have given Gerry an outright 'no' to the meeting if Quinn had given her a definite 'yes' but she hadn't. It was either take the meeting or do nothing around the house while Quinn worked in her office.

* * *

><p>Quinn meanwhile was firing through her novel. She was really impressed with what she'd created so far. It was hard at first to tap into her past but she knew she wouldn't be alone in losing her parents love and respect. She felt bad denying Rachel the opportunity to look for venues but she was on a creative rush. She thought the diva would understand. It wasn't like she was saying 'no' completely; she just wanted to make sure that going out wouldn't mess with her creativity. As her fingers tapped the keys ferociously she began to smile. It felt good writing all of the hurt she felt then and knowing how she feels now always makes it worth it.<p>

Her protagonist was created from the worst bits of Quinn's personality. Well the old Quinn. Her character was: selfish, angry, repressed and cruel. Quinn sat back and thought about how long it had been since she'd been able to describe herself like that. It was necessary though, she needed to show the true journey of her character; of herself. Sure she was still repressed in college but finding writing had helped her come to terms with that. Her girlfriend at the time had helped her deal with that too. She frowned at the memory of her first girlfriend, it felt like such a long time ago. She was truthful when she'd said to Lindsay none of her past girlfriends would sell a story on her. It wasn't like there was a lengthy list of them. She treated them well. She was attentive and loving. At times she'd been a workaholic sometimes working three jobs and writing on the side but then Lindsay came along and completely changed her perspective on dating.

Lindsay was a breath of fresh air to Quinn. She'd just found the coffee shop where Quinn was working at. She took her drink to a booth and pulled out a pile of manuscripts. Quinn watched as this woman just sat and did her work with the business of the shop just passing her by. Quinn sighed when she watched as she put one manuscript to the side without as much as a glance. 'Wow' was all Quinn could think. She suddenly understood how ruthless the industry could be. She shook her head and continued with her work. Unbeknown to her but the woman with the manuscripts kept glancing across at her too. The minute Quinn looked around for any tables to wait on or to clean she would drop her head. She was impressed by the simply beauty of the blonde waitress. For the next couple of weeks Lindsay would bring her manuscripts back to the same coffee shop and would run through them. She didn't know whether she liked the environment or the attractive blonde who would not so subtly check her out as she walked past.

Sick of the constant tiptoeing around each other, Lindsay beckoned the waitress across and politely asked for a refill. Quinn obliged, knowing if she did so promptly and politely she was more likely to be tipped more than normal. She placed it gently on the table in front of the woman and began to turn around and return to her place at the counter. It had been a slow afternoon and Quinn had brought her notebook and was developing her characters. She'd written her first rough outline of 'From Old Foes To New Friends' a couple of weeks earlier. She always found it odd when she tried to develop her characters because it was as if she was developing herself. She found it oddly soothing though, she could create someone she aspired to be. However, the woman kindly asked her to sit down. Looking around and seeing no tables needed waited on and there was no one waiting to be served Quinn obliged. They chatted for a while before Quinn had to go back to work. Their interactions continued for a couple of months before Quinn finally got the guts to ask what it was the woman did. She knew she read manuscripts but then did she pass them on to an editor or to a publisher? Quinn wasn't one hundred per cent sure how the industry worked and if this woman could point her in the right direction then she would.

It was a few months later before Quinn handed Lindsay a manuscript of 'From Old Foes To New Friends' but the minute she did, she felt free. She'd accepted her sexuality a few years ago but finally handing something over that would only cement that to her at least, was a weight off her shoulders. Once Lindsay had read through and given it back to Quinn with some notes, she told her that she needed to stop dating. By stopping dating she'd be able to delve back into the part of her life where she'd been repressed for so long. Lindsay said all of this knowing that Quinn was the protagonist. The more Quinn fell in love with someone else the harder it would be to get back into the part of her heart where she held the pain of a failed relationship. Lindsay was right, because it got her noticed. Not just by publishers but eventually by Rachel. Although it took Rachel that coffee shop meeting with Quinn to finally understand it was about her, they were together and something Quinn had wanted since she was seventeen had been achieved.

Lindsay and Quinn had fiery chemistry, often discussing plot continuity and character development to well into the night. Both were stubborn and thought they knew what was best. Despite their initial attraction and the subtle glances, nothing ever transpired. Lindsay wasn't stupid enough to think that Quinn's heart would ever belong to someone else and Quinn herself thought the same. Soon enough they became colleagues and would laugh about their initial feelings for the other.

Quinn was brought from her thoughts when she heard Rachel arrive home. Sighing and preparing for their no doubt heated discussion, Quinn saved her work and exited her office. Rachel was taking some vegetables out of the fridge when Quinn got to the kitchen.

"Hey," Quinn greeted safely.

"Hi," Rachel replied as she washed the bell peppers before beginning to chop them.

"Good day?"

"It was ok,"

"Can I help with anything?"

"No, I'm all good." Quinn wasn't sure why she was getting such cold treatment from her fiancée, but she sure enough was about to find out.

"Rachel, can that wait a minute?"

"I really wanted to eat before it gets too late. I need an early night I have a big day tomorrow."

"I thought you wanted to look at venues tomorrow?" Quinn asked.

"Well since you couldn't give me a definite answer, I've booked a meeting with the label for tomorrow. They've been desperate to arrange one and I wasn't sure when I could make it."

"Oh, okay then." Quinn sighed. "Look Rachel, I'm sorry about this morning."

"Do you actually know why you're apologising Quinn? Or are you doing it because you think you need to?"

"Both I guess. I'm sorry I couldn't give you the perfect answer. I have deadlines too. I might set my own schedule but that doesn't mean I can clear it because you've finally got a free day and want to plan our wedding."

"I'm sorry. I was under the impression you wanted to get married!" Rachel said beginning to raise her voice. She had diced the peppers up that much in her anger that they were close to becoming nothing. She put the knife down and turned to face the blonde.

"Oh don't you dare pull that one on me. Don't make me be the bad guy here, Rachel. I do want to marry you. That's why I asked didn't I?" Quinn replied beginning to lose her cool.

"If you really wanted to then you'd take a few hours out of your schedule and go look for a venue with me."

"If you really wanted to get married then you'd be taking time out of your schedule too. It works both ways Rachel!" Quinn argued. "Don't even try and come back with 'the studio books my time I'm restricted, unlike you' line because I am restricted. I want this out by May, do you know how stressful that is on me? I'm delving into stuff I haven't thought about since I was sixteen. I'm emotionally exhausted, have you ever considered that?"

"Of course I have."

"You have a fantastic way of showing it!" Quinn said shaking with anger. Rachel slowly and cautiously moved over to her. She gently reached out and tried to touch the blonde's arm. Quinn pulled away.

"Quinn! Calm down, right now!" Rachel shouted.

"You're scaring me. I'm sorry ok! I shouldn't have just demanded you to take time off because I had the time free. We work better together, not when one's calling the shots." Rachel said her voice beginning to soften with every word.

"Sometimes it feels like I'm just your puppet, today was one of those days."

"I know and I'm sorry for that. It's just I know I don't get a lot of time off and I really want to plan this wedding too. I just wanted you to be more enthusiastic about it."

"I am enthusiastic but you have to understand that I'm under a lot of pressure too." Quinn said as she calmed down. Rachel had begun drawing soothing circles on her arms. Quinn pulled away and wrapped her arms around her fiancée. Her hands resting on the small of the singer's back.

"I do understand, sometimes I just get caught up in everything going on in my life. I'm selfish, you know that."

"You're not selfish," Quinn argued. "You're just focused."

"I should be focusing on us, not just me though."

"I should be focusing on us too. You're not the only one that wants to get married in this relationship."

"I'm sorry that I questioned whether you really wanted to marry me or not. I know the answer to that." Rachel said as she looked down at the ring on her finger. It sparkled up at her before she looked back at her fiancée. She stared deep into the hazel eyes and all she saw for miles was love. It literally poured out of Quinn. How could she doubt the blonde's commitment to their relationship? She knew right then that she would never do that again.

"I'm sorry too. For everything. Especially for losing my temper like that, I never meant to scare you." Quinn said tightening her hold on the diva. She held her tighter like she was protecting her from herself. Quinn pressed her lips to Rachel's forehead and left them there. Eventually she pulled away and dropped her forehead to rest on the brunette's. Rachel instantly lifted her head slightly and kissed her fiancée tenderly.

"Want to skip dinner?" She asked softly. "I'm not hungry anymore. I just want to cuddle with you on the couch instead."

"Whatever you want babe." Quinn replied.

"Whatever we want." Rachel corrected before leading them to the lounge.


End file.
